The recent merger between On3 and Rivals is shaking up coverage of college football recruiting in a big way. On3, led by Shannon Terry, has officially acquired Rivals from Yahoo Sports. Together, they’ve formed a robust media network to serve millions of fans, recruits, and families nationwide.
At first, many saw this merger as just another big business move. But now, new updates show how this change will affect the recruiting world.
The initial merger announcement outlined many changes. Still, Terry recently shared some specific details, such as the transition of recruiting rankings to Rivals, the rating scale change, and the goal of a unified subscription model, which appear to be new updates not explicitly mentioned in the original announcement.
On3-Rivals Merger Just Changed Everything in College Football Recruiting According to Latest Update
Terry, CEO of On3, recently shared new details on Twitter that were missing from the first announcement. These changes will start taking effect on July 1.
One major update is how recruiting rankings will work. Starting with the Class of 2026, On3’s rankings will move under the Rivals brand. This means On3 will stop publishing its rankings. Also, Rivals will drop the 6.1 rating system and switch to a 100-point scale. This change will make player evaluations more transparent and more precise.
The On3 Industry Ranking is changing, too. It will now give equal weight to Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN, each counting for exactly 33.333%. This aims to offer a fair and complete look at player ratings.
Some of these new changes also consider fans and subscribers. They will notice significant updates, such as gaining access to all content across On3 and Rivals without any additional cost. While a few areas with overlapping coverage may still require dual subscriptions, the plan is to transition to a single subscription model within the following year.
However, the merger is not limited to college football—it also expands into high school football. As outlined in Terry’s latest update, which will take effect in July, a significant investment is being made in high school sports coverage.
More details on the @Rivals integration with @On3sports coming in July … pic.twitter.com/VouTsUWixq
— Shannon Terry (@ShannonTerry) May 25, 2025
Rivals has already begun expanding its recruiting data and media library, with new hires joining the team to strengthen its presence in the high school space. The Rivals Camp Series, a key event for evaluating top prospects, is also expected to continue under the new structure.
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Some other changes that the On3 CEO shared—like plans to combine resources and enhance coverage of college sports, recruiting, and NIL—were already discussed when the first announcement was made.
However, with these new updates set to roll out in July, more developments are expected in the coming weeks. The college football community seems to be embracing these changes with excitement. Hopefully, fans will also strongly support the upcoming updates in July.
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